Windows Phone 7 Icons Explained

If you have been wondering what the icons across the top of your Windows Phone 7 display represent, read on...

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What Do the Icons Mean?

On the Windows Phone 7 handset you might find a set of three buttons across the bottom and maybe some volume controls and a camera button along the side. Most of your interaction will take place in the main display itself where you will find tiles that you can tap and interact with, an onscreen telephone keypad and keyboard and more.

Along the top of the display, however, are a set of icons. These might not be visible at all times, so you will need to swipe your finger down from the top of the display in order to see them.

What are these icons and what do they represent?

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Understanding Windows Phone 7 Icons

The icons across the top of your Windows Phone 7 display are there for a reason – each of them represents some important information that you will need to know in order to correctly use your phone.

For instance, the right-most icon is the current time; you wouldn’t want to be calling someone overseas if they’re likely to be asleep, and the clock is also useful for keeping track of time if you have any impending appointments. Meanwhile the left-most icon displays the current signal strength, giving you an idea of how good the quality of any calls or cellular data connections might be.

Although any of the symbols could quite easily be displayed in any order, they have been arranged into the following line-up to make it simple to quickly check whether you have a Wi-Fi connection or if your phone is on vibrate:

Cellular signal strength

Cellular data connection type

Call forwarding active

Roaming mode active

Wi-Fi connection active

Bluetooth active

Current phone profile (displayed when phone is in vibrate mode)

Input language

Battery

Clock

(Image via microsoft.com)

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Quick Check for Information

By arranging the icons like this, you always know where to check for certain information; for instance, if you can’t recall if you switched on Wi-Fi (Settings > WiFi) then you can tell by swiping down the icon bar at the top of the screen and looking for the Wi-Fi symbol

With call forwarding active, any calls received by your phone will be automatically diverted to your nominated number. Forgetting about call forwarding and leaving it set up is easily done, but you could quickly check your phone for the symbol to see if it is active or not.

Roaming mode is used when abroad and using different telephone networks, and can prove quite expensive if you roam without an arrangement with your own network, so having an icon displaying this could save you a lot of money.

Being able to spot if Bluetooth is active could be very important in preventing any potential security breaches of your Windows Phone 7, while the current phone profile can be set via the volume controls.

Finally, the input language will display whatever language you have setup in Settings > Region & Language, while the battery icon shows a close approximation of the current remaining battery life.